


Hard Lessons

by orphan_account



Category: Naruto
Genre: Bad Parenting, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto) Feels, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto)-centric, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kakashi is trying his best, Spanking, Team 7 Has Issues, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-08 15:11:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10389567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: When things go wrong on a courier mission, Team 7 needs to learn a lesson about following orders- and Kakashi knows just how to teach them.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Time for some good old Team 7 Is Fucked Up Beyond Measure feels, eh? Implied emotional issues, bad parenting tactics, and generally Kakashi trying to be a parent.  
> [Also if the tags didn't make it clear enough, CW: Disciplinary Spanking.}

    Package delivery missions were supposed to be  _ simple _ . Supposed to be the kind of thing anyone with half a brain could do, much less three aspiring young ninja and their commander. But somehow, in the course of the whole thing, his students had decided to square off with a local gang and- well, that hadn’t ended well. 

 

 “You’re kidding me. You disobeyed me, compromised the mission, and nearly got each other killed.” Kakashi’s lone eye stared down at the three members of Team 7, and each tried to look away from the accusatory glare.  

 

 “We didn’t think it would end that badly...” Naruto protested weakly. 

 

“Well you were wrong!” Kakashi snapped, and Naruto flinched. 

 Kakashi sighed, and sat down on a tree stump. He looked down at his kids- they didn’t do it out of malice, he knew that.  But it didn’t excuse their actions. 

 “We’ll do D ranks for a month without complaint, sensei.” Sakura offered, looking up at him. 

 

“I’m afraid that won’t be enough. I think I need to teach you like my sensei taught me.” Kakashi tugged his gloves off, tucking them into his kunai pouch. 

“What do you mean?” Sasuke asked. 

“I’ll show you. Naruto, come here.” Kakashi ordered, voice firm.

Naruto stood up hesitantly, walking over to Kakashi “Okay sensei, what do you want me to-” 

 Kakashi grabbed the boy by the wrist and yanked him over his lap. He gave the boy’s ass a firm smack, and Naruto yelped. 

 “Let go of me!” Naruto wriggled in Kakashi’s grasp, but he was held tight by a hand on his back. 

  
“You need to learn to not be such a brat, Naruto.”

 

Kakashi held the squirming boy tight against his legs, and pulled his pants down. Kakashi planted a few smacks on his ass through the scratchy, polka dotted boxers, and Naruto cursed.     
 “Let me go! Get off me!” He spit. 

Kakashi sighed “It seems we’ll have to go barebottom to teach you a lesson.” 

 He tugged Naruto’s boxers down, exposing his pale bottom to the cold forest air. Naruto needed to learn a lesson, and this was the best way for him to do it. 

 Naruto looked over at his teammates, a pleading look in his eyes “Y-you’re not just going to let him do this?!”    
 Kakashi shifted Naruto on his lap to hold him tight, and peppered smacks across the boy’s ass. He looked over at Sasuke and Sakura- who were, for their part, trying to look away. 

 “They, unlike you, are behaving. And you’d do well to learn” he punctuated each word with a harsh slap “some-”  _ crack  _ “-respect!” 

 Kakashi continued until he felt Naruto go limp in his hold. Did the boy pass out? No, he was awake, he could hear him sniffling softly. 

 “Please. I’ll behave.” Naruto whimpered, his voice cracking. 

 “Are you ready to prove you’ll behave?” Kakashi asked

 

“Yes.”  Naruto nodded “Uh, yes sensei.” he amended. 

 

 Kakashi picked up the switch he had cut earlier, and rested the stick across Naruto’s red bottom. He whimpered softly. Maybe Kakashi could cut him some slack… 

 

 “If you can count to ten, we’ll be done. Okay?” He asked. 

 

“Yes Sensei.” Naruto put his palms against the ground, eyes shut tight. 

 

The switch came down with a sharp crack.  

“One!” Naruto called out, voice shaking.    
_ Crack  _

“Two!” 

_ Crack  _

“T-three.” Naruto was physically trembling, and Kakashi held him steady. No matter how sorry he felt for him, they had to finish this out. For Naruto’s sake. 

_ Crack  _

“Four.” 

_ Crack  _

“F-five.” He stuttered, fingered digging into the forest loam. 

_ Crack  _

“Six.” 

_ Crack  _

“Seven. Please please I’m sorry I’m-” 

_ Crack  _

“Eight.” Naruto hung his head 

_ Crack  _

“Nine.” He whimpered 

_ Crack  _

“T-ten.”    
  


Kakashi put the switch down, and pulled his student into his arms. Naruto was a mess of snot and tears and mumbled apologies, and he held him close. 

 “I need to deal with your teammates, okay?”

 “O-okay.” Naruto clung tight to him, like he’d never had a hug before in his life. Maybe he hadn’t- God, that thought broke Kakashi’s heart. But he needed to deal with the rest of his students. 

“Go kneel, hands on your head, nose pressed to that pine.”    
 Naruto nodded and awkwardly shuffled over, kneeling in the dirt. He pressed his nose to the sap-sticky bark, and sniffled. 

 Kakashi took a deep breath, and turned to look at his other students- they were both blushing like tomatoes.

 

 “Which of you is going next?”

 

* * *

 

 

Sasuke had thought Kakashi was joking when he first pulled Naruto over his knee. He had felt horrified when he saw his sensei tug his teammate’s pants down- and another feeling he couldn’t quite place, he’d come back to that later- and spank him like Sasuke had seen his relatives do to their kids. His own mother hadn’t exactly spared the rod on him, either. 

 In fact, Sasuke remembered his own mother’s switch- a thin stick of black hickory that eerily resembled what Kakashi was using to discipline his teammate. It stung like nothing he’d ever experienced, but he always got a hug after and his mom told him how much she loved him and- Sasuke jerked away from that train of thought. There wasn’t any use in reminiscing. 

 

 “Which of you is going next?” 

 

Sasuke swallowed nervously, hands clenched into fists pressed against his lap. He looked over at Sakura- Oh kamis, she was shaking. Sasuke felt something hard and cold inside his chest and before he could stop himself, he was walking towards his sensei. 

“Thank you Sasuke.” Sakura whispered. 

 

Sasuke took a deep breath. This was just like back when he was a kid, right? He pulled his shorts down, and laid over Kakashi’s lap- and braced himself for the worst. 

 

* * *

 

 

 Okay, Sasuke volunteering himself to save a teammate? That… wasn’t expected. Kakashi was actually pretty impressed. But he couldn’t let it show- Kakashi composed himself as best he could. 

 

“Are you ready?” He asked, dropping the switch on the ground. 

 

“Yes Sensei. Let’s just get this over with.” Sasuke said. 

 

Kakashi tugged Sasuke’s underwear down- if Naruto had to endure it, so did all of them- and raised his hand high. He could feel Sasuke sucking a breath between his teeth in anticipation, tensing up-  _ smack! _

 “Fuck!” The boy yelped, then blushed. 

“What a dirty mouth, Sasuke…” Kakashi chuckled.  

 He struck again, and only got a muffled sound of protest. Sasuke was biting into the loose collar of his shirt. Ah, well that was a sign to go right ahead if he ever saw one… 

 It took a few minutes of hard smacks and muffled yelps before either spoke again. 

 

“Please Sensei, I promise I won’t disobey again.” Sasuke whimpered. 

Kakashi remembered saying the same thing to his Sensei, and that hadn’t exactly stopped him from being a little shit. 

“I’m  **sure** you won’t, because you’re going to learn your lesson here and now.” 

Kakashi reached down for the switch, hesitating only a moment. No, this would be good for Sasuke- good to see consequences, good to learn obedience. 

 “Based on how scared you looked of it, I assume you’ve been switched before?” Kakashi asked 

 

“Yes Sensei.” Sasuke said 

 

“Good. Then you can count them out for me. If you miss one, we start over. Clear?”    
  
“I-” Sasuke whined softly, and swallowed his protests “Yes, Sensei.”    


 

* * *

 It’s not that Sasuke was afraid of the switch- okay, maybe he was a little. But being over an adult’s knee like this.. It brought back memories. And reminded him how much he missed his- Sasuke dug his nails into his palms. He wasn’t going to think about that. 

 

Kakashi brought the switch down in a sharp crack. 

“O-one.” He stuttered

 He smacked again, and Sasuke swore he hit the same spot. 

“Two!” He cried out, biting back tears. Kamis, he wasn’t going to cry in front of his sensei, in front of his team. He couldn’t. 

_ Crack _

“Three!” He squeezed his eyes shut. He wasn’t going to cry, he wasn’t- 

_ Crack _

“Four.” He wasn’t going to cry, he wasn’t going to cry

_ Crack _

“F-five.”  He sobbed, and the tears came crashing out.

 

* * *

 

Kakashi hadn’t taken Sasuke for a crier, much less the kind of ugly sobbing the boy across his lap was doing. He rubbed Sasuke’s back. It couldn’t be the pain, he’d seen Sasuke take worse. Sasuke had mentioned he’d been switched before, probably by his mother- Oh no. 

“Are you okay to continue Sasuke?” He asked in a soft voice, brushing Sasuke’s hair out of his face. 

“Yes sensei.” Sasuke sobbed. 

Kakashi weighed his options. He didn’t want to see his student hurting like this, but...  It was clear Sasuke needed a good, therapeutic cry. His mind was made up. 

 

_ Crack _ he brought the switch down again, hard. He waited a moment, and sighed. 

 

“You have to count, okay Sasuke?”

“O-okay.” The boy sniffled. 

“We won’t start over, just pick back up at six.”   
_Crack_

“Six!” . 

Each strike brought another wave of tears, and Kakashi’s heart broke a little more. But it had to be done. 

_ Crack _

“S-seven.” Sasuke sobbed, clinging to Kakashi’s leg. 

_ Crack  _

“Eight,” 

_ Crack  _

“Nine.” Kakashi could feel tears dripping onto his foot. 

_ Crack  _

“Ten.”    


 Kakashi threw the switch to the ground, and pulled Sasuke into a hug. Sasuke sobbed, and Kakashi held him. The boy had gone so long without a parental figure in his life, and Kakashi wasn’t going to let him go any longer. He ran his fingers through Sasuke’s hair. 

“I’m s-sorry Sensei I’m sorry.” He sobbed. 

 

“Oh Sasuke…” Kakashi mumbled, rubbing small circles on his student’s back. 

 

“It’s okay Sasuke, you’re okay. I’ve got you.” He rocked them for a moment, and Sasuke’s sobs became a hitching, sharp breath and the occasional sniffle. 

“Can you go kneel over by Naruto? We’ll talk later, okay?” Kakashi brushed Sasuke’s hair back with sore fingers. 

 Sasuke nodded, sliding off his lap. He knelt in the dirt, forehead against the tree, hands at his side. Not quite what he’d asked for, but Kakashi would take it. (Had Kakashi watched a moment longer, he’d have seen Naruto reach out and squeeze Sasuke’s hand- inviting a fresh round of tears). 

 

Kakashi turned to his last remaining student.

 

* * *

 

Military life was brutal; long days, harsh conditions, bad food. The fact that Konoha turned children into soldiers- and that’s what they were, heads full of destructive jutsu and bodies trained to fight to kill, taught the best spot to break a man’s neck and how to make sure he didn’t make a sound when he died- was proof enough they weren’t the most morally upright people on Earth.  

 But spanking? 

Sakura had watched her teammates get bent over her Sensei’s knee with shaking hands and sweaty palms. Her mother, her father- they’d never spanked her.. They had, in fact, taught her to fight back when someone tried to lay a hand on her. But here she was, kneeling in the dirt, waiting her turn to be turned over her sensei’s knee. 

 “Come here, Sakura.” 

Sakura hesitated 

“Now, please.” 

She got to her feet, shuffling over to her sensei. Kamis- she was a warrior, a shinobi! She’d run until she’d puked before, why did this scare her so badly? 

 Kakashi patted his lap, and she laid across it. She was shaking like a leaf- but unlike her village, she didn’t have anywhere to hide. 

 

 “Sakura, it’s okay.” Kakashi rested a heavy hand on her back- a hand that would soon be making her cry out in pain, her brain reminded her. 

 

 “It doesn’t feel like it.” She mumbled. 

 

“It’ll be fine, I promise. And afterwards, we’ll all go to this inn down the road I know- you and Sasuke and Naruto can sleep on a real bed tonight. How’s that sound?” Kakashi asked. 

“O-okay.” She nodded. 

 

 Kakashi folded the back of her dress up across her back, and tugged her boyshorts down. 

Sakura blushed dark, and tried not to think too much about what he was about to do- too late, that train left the station already. 

Kakashi rested a hand on her bottom. “We’re going to start now, okay?” 

“Okay sensei.” Sakura took a deep breath, and closed her eyes. 

 

_ Smack! _

“Ow!” she yelped, and kicked. 

“Don’t make me hold you down.” Kakashi chuckled. He pressed a hand to her back, holding her steady. 

 

Another smack came, and it stung worse than the first. And another. And another. Sakura tried to hold still, but there was a fire on her bottom and she wanted to kick-run-escape. 

 

Kakashi tutted, and shifted them around. Before Sakura could really understand what he was doing, he’d pinned her legs tightly between his, holding her in place. 

 “That’ll do.” 

 

Sakura hung her head, trying not to cry out at the increasingly more painful smacks. Pain, she could endure, but being spanked like a child- it was embarassing. Pants around her ankles, over her teacher’s knee in the middle of a forest. 

 

Kakashi paused for a moment, and Sakura looked up. 

“I know you can’t see it, but your bottom is almost the exact shade of pink as your hair.” He noted, eyebrow raised. 

 Sakura whined, and pouted at him. He laughed. 

  
Kakashi picked up his switch, and Sakura blanched. She wriggled, trying to pull free from his grasp- no luck, she was pinned tight. 

 

“Just a few strokes, and then we’re done- okay?” He asked. 

“O-okay sensei.” 

 

Kakashi rested the switch. which had brought her formerly stoic teammate to ugly sobbing tears and reduced her eternally-a-ball-of-sunshine teammate to a whimpering mess, against her ass. The wood was warm, which was… no surprise, considering Kakashi had been using it on Sasuke only a few minutes earlier. 

_ Crack! _

It cracked across her ass in a flash of white hot pain, and Sakura cried out. She whimpered, and twisted her fingers into the leg of Kakashi’s pants. 

_ Crack! Crack! _

The cane came down again and again, each strike bleeding into the other in an endless succession of hot pain and tears rolling down her cheeks and lip-bit-till-it-was-almost-bleeding. 

 She hadn’t even realized it was over until she found herself sitting on her sensei’s lap, rather than pinned between his legs. 

 Kakashi ran his fingers through her hair, humming softly. “For someone so scared, you handled that pretty well.” 

“I’m braver than I thought, I guess.” She laid her head on his chest. 

 

“Definitely.”

* * *

 

 

 

 Of all the people to take a spanking calmly, he hadn’t expected Sakura to be one. Of course, he hadn’t expected Naruto to turn into an obedient, hug-hungry child or Sasuke to have an emotional breakdown, either. Speaking of.. 

 Kakashi held Sakura as he stood up, stretching his legs for a moment, before sitting back down in the dirt with his legs folded and back against the tree stump. 

“Naruto. Sasuke. Come here.” He called. 

 The boys (Who were holding hands, when did that happen? Questions for later) peeled themselves away from the tree and came over and plopped into his lap eagerly. 

 Kakashi was glad he had the tree stump to lean on for support, because he had three students- three people- in his lap, all of whom were trying to hug him. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around all of them as best he could.  

 They sat like that for a few moments- close and tired and cried out, not caring that three of them were half naked, not caring that they’d messed up a mission. They had each other, and that was what mattered. 

  Kakashi eventually broke the silence. 

“If we start walking now, there’s an inn a few miles out we can hit before nightfall. And we can have a good night’s rest on  _ actual beds _ and  _ shower _ before we head back to the village.” 

 

Kakashi had never seen genin move so fast in his life. 

* * *

 

  The TV was droning in the background, but Kakashi paid it no attention. He was stirring sugar into his latest cup of coffee (a great nighttime drink, who cared if it gave him sleep problems?) and watched the… well, puppy pile might be a good word for it.

 His three students were curled up on the pull out bed in front of the TV. Naruto had somehow ended up in the middle, splayed out to take up as much space as possible, with Sasuke lying on his chest, head tucked into the crook of Naruto’s neck. Sakura was curled up on his other side, an arm stretching out to wrap around both boys. 

 He sat down at the counter, the mission report documents spread out around him. He’d need to file everything when he got back, and the Hokage would decide, based on how they handled a low end C rank (a D rank that went out of the village, if Kakashi was being honest. It was an evaluation tool), if they were ready for more. His report could damn them to 6 months of painting fences. 

   He chewed the end of his pen, and then wrote. 

 

_ “Package delivered with very few problems”  _ Kakashi snorted, this was going to be the biggest lie he put in a report since he was 15 and going through ANBU hazing  _ “and Team 7 displayed remarkable camaraderie.”  _

 Kakashi glanced over at his sleeping pile of students- clinging to each other like they were all they had in the world. 

_ “I had reservations about sending Team 7 on a low end C rank, but I recommend a full C-rank next week, possibly an escort mission. What could go wrong?”  _

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is the first thing I'm posting on this account, and I hope y'all like it. Just a bit of a moral disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form approve of hitting kids. Hitting your kids is abuse. 5 decades of studies have found that hitting your kids is ineffective and leads to resentment later in life.  
> HOWEVER I think that Konoha is a pretty messed up society that would totally hit their kids. I mean, are you kidding? They use child soldiers!
> 
> I thought some domestic discipline might be a cool way to explore Kakashi stepping into more of a parental role for his students. Lemme know what you think in the comments below- love it, hate it, or just meh.


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